106 | Oh BABY! Children Should Learn at Least 16 Gestures by 16 Months Good communication development starts in the first year of life and goes far beyond learning how to talk. Communi- cation development has its roots in social interaction with parents and other caregivers during everyday activities. Your child’s growth in social communication is important because it helps your child connect with you, learn language and play concepts, and sets the stage for learning to read and future success in school. Good communication skills are the best tool to prevent behavior problems and make it easier to work through moments of frustration that all infants and toddlers face. By observing children’s early gestures, you can obtain a critical snapshot of their communication develop- ment. Even small lags in communication milestones can add up and impact a child’s rate of learning that is difficult to change later. Research with young children indicates that the development of gestures from 9 to 16 months predicts language ability 2 years later, which is significant because preschool language skills predict academic success. So it’s important to remember that by 16 months, children should have at least 16 gestures. Let’s consider how gestures de- velop. While the order or specific gestures may vary slightly, children should be using at least 2 new gestures each month between 9 and 16 months. 9 Months: Give, Shake head At 9 months, children’s earliest gestures begin to develop from their actions—and the reactions of others. Children first learn to take an object. Then, as they are able to control their hand movements to release and drop an object, they gain experience from their parent holding out their hand to catch it—and they learn to give. Children learn to shake their head to indicate “no” by turning away from food they do not like and then looking back to see their parent respond by moving the undesired food away. 10 Months: Reach, Raise arms At 10 months, children learn to reach through exploration and experiences with others, as they reach to take an object and to be picked up. As they learn to anticipate the reactions of others, they use a reach gesture as a signal—first, with their arm reaching out, then, with their open hand facing up, and with their arms raised to ask to be picked up. Photo by Pao Carmona Photography